I'm not sure I get the science behind using seawater for heating, but I'm happy to see an effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels. More here.
How about a little Flash? The Chronicles of Cisco, Part 1:
An Australian politician sets a river on fire to show that fracking isn't harmless. The only people who don't think fracking is dangerous and damaging are people who are profiting from it, apparently. It's causing massive pollution, seepage of methane, and even earthquakes. But the companies insist it's safe. Huh.
The first responses to Seattle's wage hikes ($12.50 an hour now, going up to $15 an hour by January 2018) are coming in, and prices just haven't changed. It's still far too soon to see the long-term impacts, but so far the prognosis is positive.
Cliff Mass corrects the media on the notion that we're having a super-drought. Of particular interest is the fact that precipitation is normal, it just didn't collect as snow.
Bleeding Cool noted not long ago that DC's latest campaign is really ripe for photoshopping. Ouch. You know, at first I was disappointed there was no Aquaman ad, now I'm just relieved.
GunFail, which collects news stories of people who really shouldn't have had access to guns, is on Pinterest, Facebook, and Tumblr. The guy who collects these stories noted on Daily Kos that his Pinterest page was disabled for awhile, but he doesn't know why.
While I enjoy seeing "if you liked this book, try this other book" memes, I've only read four books from this one, and one of those (Serephina) is in the "try" column.
The Nerdist explores whether it is possible that an event that happened in the most recent episode of Game of Thrones could have happened.
Real life follows fiction in Thailand, where people are using a salute from "The Hunger Games" to protest.
The New York Times declined to publish a comic making fun of "baby-men" who feel hurt by the #YesAllWomen Twitter hashtag. So Bleeding Cool published it, along with a selection of tweets featuring that hashtag.
Just want to mention this again: Archive Binge helps you catch up with webcomics that have huge archives. I'm currently reading a few of the comics on the list. If you have a webcomic, I really suggest you get your strip on this site.
Speaking of webcomics, have you met Gronk yet? Not a huge archive on this one, just start here.
The comic book blogosphere is up in arms about a stupid ad by a Maryland candidate for State Senator. To me, the picture gives the opposite impression of what she's trying to convey. Kids that young advanced enough in reading to understand Superman, X-Men, and Marvel Previews (?!) are probably very well educated.
OH MAN! Rich Johnston reports on legal trouble that SLG is having over their horror comic Winchester, which I enjoyed as noted here. I'm not sure what the problem is, except that it apparently involves trademarks. It's a pity, because I wanted to see more of that book, and this fight not only makes that unlikely, it might take down SLG entirely as a publisher.
For some reason, DeviantArt doesn't thinkinkers are actual artists. Their terms of service have declared that any artist must have created the work entirely by his or herself. No collaborative projects allowed. So inkers who have been putting up examples of their work are being shut down by the service. Anyone got the full scoop on this? The second link there indicates that they are only opposed to inking without permission, so is it a copyright issue solely?
You may have heard about Google allowing you to make free voice calls to any phone in the US or Canada? Well, I made two yesterday. The first went through fine, the second didn't.
Want to see Hamlet starring David Tennant as Hamlet, Sir Patrick Stewart as Claudius and the Ghost, Oliver Ford Davies as Polonius, Mariah Gale as Ophelia, and Edward Bennet as Laertes? Well, now you can watch it online at PBS.
The magic diet elixir is... water. For some strange reason, if you drink a full glass of water BEFORE a meal, you are likely to eat less. Who would've thought?
I adore this post by Ursula Vernon. She's saying, HEY, BUILD IT HERE! to the mosque, and for selfish reasons, too!
WOW, that's a deal! Getting frozen yogurt for 38/100ths of a cent per ounce! *sigh* Want to read something scarier? Some of the people in the comments don't understand why the math is wrong. Hint: the unit specifies cents, not dollars.
And lastly, if you have any handy prayer weasels, please get them ready to spin. Eric and I are going to need all the help we can get in the next few weeks.
The first episode of The new Doctor Who Adventure Game is downloadable now... if you live in the UK or know how to use a proxy. (Yes, of course I know how to use a proxy).
MetaFilter links to a half-keyboard. I'd love to have this as a software solution, but I'm not buying a $600 keyboard to get that functionality.
Woman whose cash was refused when she tried to buy an iPad changes Apple's policy and gets a free iPad as an apology for the store's refusal to sell her one.
Step-by-step instructions on how to upgrade your toilet to a dual-flush system with a $20 kit. I think I want one (or rather, three, since we have three toilets in this house).
Ok, this one is special. In the middle of a cross-country trip, a man gets a call from a former student and friend from Russia. She and a traveling companion are in Washington DC, where they were promised a job when they arrived. Somehow the deal fell through, so she contacted someone she knows in the States for advice and help. Start reading at the top of this page, and just keep reading down. Seriously, read this. It will open your eyes, thrill and terrify you, and if you have a soul it'll probably make you cry before you get to the end.
After all that work on Elayne's blog, which I'm pretty happy with, and all the work it took to convert this blog, I thought the Aquaman blog (which is embedded in the Aquaman Page) would be the hardest of all. Instead, it was the easiest. In some ways it was even easier than converting Eric's Wonderful Blog of Oz and Teacher Blog (although, to be honest, both of those were a snap).
But if I hadn't done Elayne's blog first, I would have had a lot of trouble with it, just as if I hadn't done this blog before Elayne's, I would have had more trouble converting hers. I learned a bit more CSS and a lot more XML along the way. Fun stuff!
And so, it's done. All posts should be accessible on all the pages I actively participate in. Nothing should be hidden by a deliberate bug. And hopefully Google won't decide to radically alter the design again and force me to play catch-up.
Hi all. As I was going through my archives to try to find a couple of things to help me write my con reports, I noticed that a WHOLE BUNCH of my posts were no longer showing up, and nothing I did would make them show. I eventually hunted down the information in the edit window, but it appears that those posts are no longer available to readers unless they know the exact URL of the post page.
Why?
Because Google has introduced a bug (which they call a feature) to Blogspot blogs. This bug, called "Auto Pagination", limits the amount of data that will display on a page. The data is limited at the source and cannot be worked around. For all Blogspot users that have a "layout" version, this isn't a real problem. Those blogs have an "older posts" link at the bottom of the page which leads to the posts that don't show. But for those of us on classic templates, like this blog, it's a real problem. Because Google never bothered to figure out how to give us an "older posts" link, those posts are simply no longer available!
In short, Google is being evil to all Blogspot users who are still using Classic Templates. The workaround is to downgrade our templates to the sucky "layout" version. This wouldn't be a problem if I hadn't heavily customized my template, but because I did, I will lose ALL formatting if I make the change and have to start over from scratch. There is no conversion tool, and Google has not offered any help. I will have to learn a completely different tagging system, and will probably not be able to get my blog back to this format (which I'm very happy with) even if I do manage to learn their layout garbage.
So I have this choice: either downgrade my blog from classic template to "layout" format, or have a large number of my posts become lost.
Gee, thanks Google.
There really isn't a choice. I don't have the energy for it, but I'm going to start working on the problem as soon as I can muster any strength. The "layout" format is supposedly easier to edit once you've got your blog in it, but I dread converting six blogs (including Elayne's) into it from their heavily customized state. I don't want to learn another tagging system. I just want my freaking blog to WORK. Times like this I really consider just converting over to a Wordpress blog hosted on my own domain. I don't like that solution, either, but at least I'd be in control.
So if you notice any strange format errors on this blog over the next month or so, you know why. Or if this blog suddenly moves to a Wordpress blog hosted over on gjovaag.com, you'll also know why...
A review of Hikaru No Go, one of my favorite comics. I use what little Amazon.com credit I get when people use Amazon links on this site to buy the latest volume when it comes out. I usually have just enough.
This is either the best thing on the internet, or the worst. It's a YouTube mash-up of X-Men and Wicked. The guy singing Magneto is no Idina, though.
John Hodgman, writing for the New York Times, reviews some comics, including Age of Bronze.
I'd go postal if I lost my internet service like the entire Navajo Nation is about to because they were apparently double-billed and refuse to pay extra.
Pirates of Somalia seize a yacht, capturing 30 crew members and apparently holding them hostage. Of interest: "The International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy, said in its annual report earlier this year that global pirate attacks rose 10 percent in 2007, marking the first increase in three years."
By now, everyone has heard about PZ Myers being barred from seeing a Creationist movie that he was tricked into appearing in. And you've all probably heard who PZ's guest was who managed to see the movie because they only kicked PZ himself out. But I couldn't not link to the story.
Simply clicking a link could get your home raided. The article says the FBI isn't bothering to record the referrer, which means some "prankster" could put the link up in a major forum and it would get tons of hits... I'm afraid clicking a link should NEVER be "probable cause" for a federally condoned home invasion and robbery.
Pastafarians in Crossville Tennessee got permission to put a Flying Spaghetti Monster statue on the Courthouse lawn. I want one! (A statue of the FSM, not a courthouse) Be sure to scroll down for pictures on how they made the FSM.
ARGH! People are so stupid! You don't believe everything you read online, especially if it's about free stuff, including a horse. Whoever posted this needs to go to jail, but so do the idiots who went and robbed the guy's house.
Speaking of not believing everything you read online, the Museum of Hoaxes reminds us that April Fools Day is coming by doing a little more research into the possible origins of the day.
Dreamhost is still trying to make things right. At least they admit to their mistakes, which other hosting companies do not. And, some semi-good news: not everyone who got notified actually got billed due to an unknown bug in their billing program. Unfortunately, the unknown bug also resulted in not everyone getting a refund fast enough!
I think this article would be enhanced by an image of the outfit in question.
Google continues to become more evil by adding unwanted social networking without the ability to opt-out. If it continues, it's time to stop using Google.
You may remember Project Download, in which a gal who needed multiple surgeries was hoping to earn the money through an offer by a company called MegaUpload. Well, on her LJ community we first learned that MegaUpload refused to pay up... then, when all hope was lost, someone donated the money through Reality Charity, and now Erin will be able to get the surgeries she needs.
Pink vs Blue: "There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for a boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl."
Web designer gets his site back after news of the Gmail exploit and its aftermath spreads across the web.
YouTube: What Song is This? A guy sings a song backwards. Halfway through, the video reverses so you can tell what the song is.
Which is better, real or fake Christmas trees? Personally, I have a little two foot high fake tree that I adore, and I plan on using it until it cannot support its lights anymore.
I really don't like dramatic versions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but I have no problem with the original text, some of the genius of which filkertom points out. The language of the story is just amazing. I just get tired of seeing it constantly.
Google still hasn't fixed the garbage with Google Reader, although they've made half-hearted attempts to address some of the issues. I'm enjoying playing with Bloglines Beta, which has me reading some of my feeds in a different way.
Ah, finally an SUV gets what it deserves. The South Lake Union Trolley is off to a good start!
Anyone using Google Reader probably already knows about the new "share with friends!" bug feature, that sends your shared items to everyone you've ever chatted with in Gmail (and more, since the folks that were getting my shared items were people I'd never actually chatted in Gmail with before, but Google won't admit to this). Apparently, some spammers have already taken advantage of Google's crappy coding and started inserting their feeds into unsuspecting people's readers.
That's not the bad part. The bad part is that Google neglected to put in an "OFF" button for the bug feature. So some people are getting spam THAT THEY CANNOT TURN OFF.
Google claims that to turn it off you just have to delete your shared items, but that only prevents people from reading what you've shared. In order to get rid of unwanted feeds from other people, you have to delete your contacts. Which is what I did. I deleted my entire Google contacts list AND all my shared items. For some people, who use Gmail for work purposes, that's not an option.
Google has really screwed this one up.
And their response when people complain? "Oh, only your friends can see it, and you just have to delete your shared items if you don't want to share!" Um, excuse me? We're talking about stuff being pushed into our readers without us subscribing to it. You aren't even addressing the problems people are reporting.
Look, I understand that Google wants to compete with Facebook and MySpace and whatnot. But forcing a social networking bug feature onto everyone using a freakin' RSS reader, without consulting the users and without the ability to opt-out (or at least be selective of what to send and receive), is NOT the way to do it.
I call "evil" on this one. Google has done something that truly sucks for the end users, and won't fix it. I think I may just have to go back to Bloglines now. I apologize to anyone who went to Google Reader after I recommended it. I never expected them to pull such a completely moronic act.
UPDATE: Playing with Bloglines Beta, and some of the more annoying problems with Bloglines have been fixed in this newer version. I'm definitely thinking of switching back now.
Google Earth has a flight simulator. Slashdot links to the instructions. Make sure you are on the latest version of Google Earth, and remember that the controls are REALLY sensitive. I've crashed repeatedly.
Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, Calls Out Stephen Colbert. Watch the clip! The bit with Buzz at the end is truly classic. (and, by the way, if you don't know that Colbert is satire and that Phil is playing along, you may not want to bother).
Cory Doctorow is peeved, and rightly so. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to fraudulently remove numerous non-infringing works from Scribd. Making Light also weighs in on the subject.
Laura "Tegan" Gjovaag is a writer living in Eastern Washington. She enjoys comic books, rain, and troubleshooting computers.
Her husband, "Hubby-Eric" is a Wizard of Oz fan whose website is the definitive place for questions and answers about Oz. He's a school teacher working in Eastern Washington.
Inkwell is the cat who owns the house Laura and Eric live in, and uses the humans as his servants. Inkwell adopted Laura after being discovered in the wheel well of a car about to leave a parking lot. He is an indoor cat, and is mostly black with bikini white markings.
Disclaimer: If this blog does not discuss a specific issue or event, it is not because this writer finds said event inconvenient to acknowledge - it's simply because she's scatterbrained and irresponsible.
words to live by
"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself... Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will."
- Aral Vorkosigan in "A Civil Campaign" by Lois McMaster Bujold
Feel free to link to or comment on anything you find, and you may quote or even reproduce entries on-line as long as you include credit and a linkback to this blog.
The opinions expressed are my own and don't reflect those of my employer.
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